Page 1 of Fake Game

ONE

DEER

“JACKSON, HE IS GOING TO KILL ME,” my best friend Lee screeches.

“I don’t know what you want me to do about it. I’m like three levels above you,” Jackson’s deep voice rumbles back through my headset.

“Jackson,” she screams again.

“Lee, I swear to fucking God.”

I let loose a laugh as I maneuver my own character through the dingy basement tunnels.

“Don’t laugh at—” Lee’s voice is cut off, signaling that her video game character did in fact get killed.

The audio in the horror game we are playing is based on character proximity. The closer you are to your teammates, the more they can hear you. But if you die, you can’t hear each other at all, and you just end up stuck in an observatory role until the round ends or everyone else dies.

“She’s going to be pissed,” I muse.

As the top female video game streamer in the United States, Allison Lee—known by her gamertag LoveLee—is a force to be reckoned with. But while she might be a beast at RPGs and even has esports teams eying her, she is always the first of us to die when we play horror games.

Jackson scoffs. “I didn’t see you rushing to her aid.”

“She wasn’t asking me.”

Without Lee, there are pockets of silence between Jackson and me. When I first began playing video games with him, I used to get uncomfortable and thought he maybe didn’t like me. Then I realized that that’s just his personality; he doesn’t really speak unless he has a reason to.

As one of the members of The System—the hottest group of video game streamers, made up of three stupidly attractive men—he is known as the broody, silent one. Jackson goes by the gamertag of Shield3d, a.k.a. Shield, and built his multi-million following playing horror games and streaming MMOs. His social media feed is filled with moody street pics, gym mirror selfies, and the occasional food post. Even when he goes out, he is always the one who keeps a level head, whereas his friends find themselves on the brink of getting arrested.

I spend more time thinking about him than I should, but it’s because I can’t seem to crack him. I’m friends with his publicist and his best friend’s girlfriend, but Jackson and I never talk outside of gaming despite how often our paths cross.

I try not to read too much into it, but it does irk me slightly.

I’ve spent the last two years crafting my entire online video game persona, TheCozyDeer, as someone whom everyone likes. I’m supposed to be fun, cute and infectiously sweet—but this annoying grump of a man just won’t take to it.

I sigh, bringing my mind back into focus as I walk my character down a corridor and come across a locked door. I pull out one of the keys I’d found earlier on in the game then open it.

A giant sludgy centipede creature sits in the middle of the room.

“Motherfuc—” my hands move like lightning over my keyboard as I try to exit the room. The creature begins to scuttle toward me, and I let loose another slew of curses—my Irish liltslipping out from my practiced American accent—before I safely manage to get back out and close the door.

“You all good there, Deer?”

“Barely,” I huff.

It’s silent for a beat before Jackson swears.

“What?”

“I heard a noise I didn’t like.”

I snort, but I understand his unease.Hunt Till Dead, the viral co-op survival horror game we are playing, is based largely around sound. If you make too much noise, you can attract certain creatures to your location. The game is set during an apocalypse, and the aim is to scavenge around in the abandoned buildings of various cities for goods to survive. You rely on your team to help you collect enough goods to survive the night, but when your team member dies, you have to wait until the next day for them to respawn. Unless you don’t collect enough goods, then you will all die when the clock hits midnight.

“I’m heading back to base camp,” Jackson announces.

I chew on my bottom lip, calculating the value of the loot I’ve gathered. It is probably enough to get us through the night.

“Okay, I’m right behind you.”

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